


i'm absolutely smitten (i'll never let you go)

by nerdiests



Series: it was always you [2]
Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Cats, Fluff, Forehead Kisses, Gen, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), M/M, Oh, Technically OC-Centric, Twilight is Soft, Warriors is Soft, almost 6k of fluff lads, alright here's the warriors/thom content i promised, also, also lad bonding uwu
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-23
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2020-12-28 19:41:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21142139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nerdiests/pseuds/nerdiests
Summary: warriors has found himself back at home, and he'll cherish the little time he has





	i'm absolutely smitten (i'll never let you go)

**Author's Note:**

> WHOOOOO BOY LADS LET'S HEAR IT FOR MORE WARRIORS AND THOM CONTENT  
so yall can thank an otp prompt generator for kicking my ass into gear and writing this monster - longer than any oneshot i've ever written, that's for sure  
also i'd like to thank silona and leg for enabling me and letting me ramble about these two lads at them i love you guys so much

For once, their group hadn’t camped out in the forest for the night. Legend had insisted on staying at an inn since they were in his Hyrule - if he’d saved the country numerous times he should get a discount - if only because he could. Warriors couldn’t say that he didn’t appreciate it. Sure, he liked camping just as much as any of the other Links - not as much as Wild seemed to enjoy it, but he still enjoyed it - but if Warriors could take the opportunity to sleep in an actual physical  _ bed _ he would snatch that with greedy fingers. Staying in tents on lumpy ground in thin bedrolls during wartime had given him more than enough sleeping on the ground experience. 

Either way, Warriors was inordinately excited that they were staying in physical beds - in both Hyrule and Time’s Hyrules, they’d been nowhere near civilization to actively find somewhere that wasn’t the wild, so Warriors and the rest of the group by extension had been relegated to camping. So when Legend had insisted upon an inn once they’d all reached his iteration of Kakariko Village, Warriors could have cried with relief. He’d had to share his room with Twilight, Four, and Wind, but Warriors was in an actual bed. He was relishing this, so  _ so  _ much. Warriors knew that they’d probably be camping out the next night, so he cherished the bed he had as much as humanly possible. 

As he read yet another one of his treasured novels - this one was about a runaway princess wanting to find her own destiny that ended up becoming a travelling knight - the rest of the group sharing the room did what they’d normally do. Wind fell right asleep, snoring quietly. Four started fiddling around with something from his pack that Warriors couldn’t quite see. And Twilight? He was drawing something, the actual content of what he was drawing unknown. After making his quick observations, he dove back into his novel until he had to go to sleep.

That next morning, after everyone had woken up and had eaten breakfast in the inn’s bar, the nine of them headed out. But right as they left one town, they entered another that hadn’t been there before and Warriors immediately perked up because this town? It was familiar. So very familiar. It had been a while since they’d been back in Warriors’ Hyrule, and even longer since he’d been able to see Thom. Warriors made do with sending letters, of course, but every time they entered another Hyrule, Warriors’ hopes had risen with the hopes of seeing the man he loved most, only for them to fall when it was either someone else’s Hyrule, or they were on the wrong side of the country to feasibly see him. But this time. This time, they were  _ in _ town. 

“Oh would you look at that? Link’s back!” someone cried from across the street, pointing at Warriors. That started up heavy chatter as Warriors stepped forward from the group in reply to everyone calling out his name and having differing accounts of everything that had occurred since he’d last been in town. It made Warriors smile, that everyone always had some sort of news to tell him whenever he came to visit. It made him feel like he was home. 

“It’s good to be back,” Warriors replied as the chatter died down. Turning towards the closest townswoman, he opened his mouth to speak but she beat him to it. 

“Thom’s at the bakery, he just finished up his morning shopping,” she said. Warriors smiled. 

“How did you know I wasn’t going to ask about the weather, or something else?” Warriors asked a bit playfully, and the townswoman laughed. 

“The first thing you always ask whenever you show up is where Thom is, so I was saving you the words you’d use to ask,” she said, still chuckling a bit. Warriors’ face went red because. Well, she wasn’t exactly  _ wrong _ ? That’s what he knew he asked first pretty much every single time he showed up in town. There were laughs from behind him, and he knew that at least one of those laughs was from Twilight. Traitor. Let him be a sap in peace. 

“What a sap,” Twilight chimed in from behind him.  _ Traitor. _

“I mean, didn’t y’all know that already?” Warriors replied, turning back around to the rest of the group. Legend was outright laughing, while Four and Wind and Wild all were giggling. Hyrule was trying to stifle his own laughter, and Sky gave Warriors a soft look. Time just smiled, and Twilight? He had the most shit-eating grin on his face. 

“Not really no,” Twilight replied, the grin not leaving. Warriors rolled his eyes at Twilight’s brotherly antics. 

“I mean, we definitely have enough evidence,” Legend added, managing to stave off his laughter to get out once sentence properly before he dissolved into giggles once more. 

“Oh, definitely. You made all of us flower crowns that one time,” Hyrule chipped in, which piqued the townspeople’s interest. 

“And that time you let me borrow that book that your mom gave you,” Twilight commented, his grin only getting bigger. 

“Oh! And when you fell asleep and cuddled with Wolfie! You had wolf hair  _ all over you _ ,” Wind added, taking a deep breath after he spoke. He’d been giggling way too much. 

“Not to mention when we first showed up here, you were pretty sappy too,” Sky chimed in, and Warriors gasped. 

“Twilight and Legend and Hyrule and Wind I expected, but you Sky? This is  _ betrayal _ ,” Warriors said dramatically, draping one arm over his forehead and leaning back as if he were swooning. There were giggles from around him that Warriors knew came from the children in the village, and he knew that he’d achieved what he’d been after. After finishing up his overdone theatrics, Warriors looked around at the slowly dispersing crowd around them and started to make his way to Thom’s bakery. They were in town for a  _ reason _ , even if it might not necessarily be a good one. Warriors just wanted to see Thom, gosh darn it. 

The nine of them quickly made their way over to  _ Heroic Baked Goods _ \- which no one had to be told was named in Warriors’ honor, but it’s not like they’d have to guess if they met Thom - and Warriors led the group inside. The bell that Warriors had picked out for its chime did as it should, and Thom looked up from the counter he’d been cleaning. 

“Hi, how can I- oh, pumpkin! It’s been a while!” Thom said, cutting himself off mid-sentence. Warriors smiled, and he felt a slight nudge at his back. Probably Twilight, because Twilight  _ was _ standing right behind him. Warriors took a step forward, before pausing and thinking for a moment. He  _ could _ do that, but… Fuck it. Warriors jumped onto the counter and swung his legs around to the opposite side and Thom smiled softly. 

“Sorry we took so long, hon. Things never really worked out when we were in this Hyrule, but luck seemed to be on our side today,” Warriors said, and Thom’s smile only grew softer.

“I’ve been getting your letters, but letters don’t compare to the real thing,” Thom replied. Warriors’ face went red. Goddesses, Thom could fluster him so  _ easily _ . With the slightest of grins, Thom gave Warriors a quick peck on the forehead, before turning to the rest of the group while Warriors internally combusted. 

“So, y’all’ve got to be here for a reason… Hm,” Thom thought. The rest of the ragtag group of Links stopped their loitering in the doorway and all came inside. 

“We tend to switch Hyrules at random, so I can’t necessarily tell you why we’re here. It might just be random chance,” Time said, shrugging slightly. Thom hmm-ed, putting a hand on his chin to muse to himself. 

“Well, I always need a helping hand around the bakery,” Thom commented, looking up at the group. Warriors glanced up and could see the sparkles in Thom’s eyes. Looking over at the rest of the group, some of them looked a bit reluctant. Except Wild. 

“I’ll warn you that Hyrule isn’t all that good in the kitchen, hon,” Warriors said, getting an indignant “HEY” from the Link in question. Thom stared for a moment, and Hyrule fidgeted under Thom’s scrutiny. 

“You can help my Link out front here, alright?” Thom asked, and Hyrule nodded. 

“I don’t want to set your bakery on fire,” Hyrule said, and Thom laughed.

“That bad in the kitchen? Just be careful with the pastries!” Thom joked, and Hyrule laughed. As Hyrule walked around the counter and Warriors slid off of it, Thom beckoned for the rest of their motley crew to follow him back to the kitchen. The other seven Links walked into the back room, and as Thom passed by Warriors he gave him a chaste kiss. His face went pink, and he heard both Twilight and Hyrule start laughing. They could fight him. Traitors. 

* * *

As the day went on, Warriors and Hyrule fell into a groove. As customers came in, Warriors would greet them and Hyrule would grab the pastries they’d ordered and would pass over the boxed pastries as soon as they passed payment over to Warriors. Routinely Thom would pop out of the kitchen, usually giving Warriors a kiss on his way back to the kitchen. Sometimes Wind or Four would walk out, carrying a piping hot tray of cupcakes or muffins or kolaches and that would draw in more people to come and buy more hot treats and the cycle would repeat. 

“This is really nice,” Hyrule commented, at one slow point between rushes. Warriors nodded, leaning and propping his elbows on the countertop. Everything about the small town Thom lived in made Warriors happy. It was rustic, and that’s just what he appreciated about the whole atmosphere. Everyone knew everyone, and whenever anything would happen, there would be a whole community there to catch them. Unlike… He sighed, looking out the storefront’s window. 

“Yeah. I miss it a lot,” Warriors replied, taking a few seconds to just stop and breathe in the scents of fresh pastries and the slightest hint of sugar in the air. 

“We all have things we miss when we’re adventuring. But we take pieces of those things when we leave. And the people we miss? We always have remnants of them wherever we go, so we can take home with us no matter where we are,” Hyrule said, sounding a bit thoughtful. Warriors paused in his own thoughts of missing home and looked up at Hyrule. 

“That was a lot more philosophical than I was expecting,” Warriors said, and Hyrule shrugged. 

“You’d be surprised,” Hyrule replied evenly, moving to rearrange the pastries into a more eye-catching arrangement within the display case. Oh. Warriors had said something wrong, hadn’t he? He’d need to correct that. 

“Hyrule…” Warriors trailed off, unsure of how to proceed. Hyrule turned towards him slightly, not looking up from him rearranging the pastries. That wasn’t a good sign. 

“If you think I was calling you stupid or anything, I wasn’t. I’m just… Not used to hearing anything that wise from someone that isn’t my Zelda or Impa, so I wasn’t expecting to hear something that deep out of the blue. You’re smart, Hyrule, even if other people say otherwise,” Warriors said, giving Hyrule a reassuring look. At his words, Hyrule looked up from the pastry sorting and gave Warriors a somewhat shaky smile. His eyes looked a bit glossy - wait, was Hyrule  _ crying? _

“Whoa, Hyrule are you alright?” Warriors asked, sounding a bit concerned, and Hyrule sniffled a bit. Did. Did Warriors make him  _ cry? _ Oh, that would not do. 

“I’m just not used to people saying stuff like that,” Hyrule replied quietly, sniffing again. Warriors paused for a moment, before unwrapping his scarf from around his neck and draping it over Hyrule’s shoulders. If his scarf comforted him when he was upset, then it should hopefully help Hyrule feel better. Hyrule jolted at Warriors’ movement and gesture, looking up at him with a confused expression.

“You look like you need it more than I do right now,” Warriors replied softly, patting Hyrule on the shoulder. Hyrule gave Warriors a smile, a bit less shaky than it had been. When Twilight walked out of the kitchen carrying three bags of flour and saw Hyrule wrapped up on Warriors’ scarf, he didn’t say a word. He just smiled knowingly. 

* * *

The day passed by smoothly from there. No one had commented on Hyrule wearing Warriors’ scarf, other than the townspeople saying that he looked absolutely adorable, leading to Hyrule’s entire face and ears being constantly red all day. Eventually, though, the bakery had to close up shop for the night, and Thom headed out to make sure that the Links (minus Warriors, of course) had room to stay in the inn. His apartment above the bakery was nice, but it could probably fit five people at a maximum. It could fit eight people in the living room, if people slept on the floor. They only had the couch, the love seat, and the recliner. At least they had a metric ton of blankets for a worst case scenario.

Warriors had let the rest of the group settle in the living room area until Thom could get them rooms in the inn. Hyrule still had Warriors’ scarf, despite his attempts to try and give it back over the course of the past few hours. Every time that Hyrule tried, Warriors would wave it off. 

The group got comfortable in the living room - everyone drifting to the spots they’d sat in the last time that they’d all been up here - and Warriors curled up on the love seat, his knees tucked up to his chest. He smiled softly, looking over at the pictures and paintings hung on the walls of the apartment. They held years of memories that Warriors cherished with his whole being. His eyes drifted over to the door. Hm. It’d been about half an hour since Thom had gone over to the inn… Was something wrong? Warriors pondered to himself as the rest of the group continued to chatter amongst themselves. Right as Warriors’ thoughts started to drift to what they might have for dinner that night, the door to the apartment opened and Warriors brightened at Thom’s appearance. 

“Hi hon, how’d it-” Warriors cut himself off at the look on Thom’s face. At Warriors’ words, everyone else had turned to look at him and then Thom. Thom sighed, moving over to the love seat and plopping down next to Warriors, who quickly moved to lean against him. Thom’s hand moved to mess with Warriors’ hair, carding through it absentmindedly. 

“The inn doesn’t have any vacancies and no one’s going to be leaving for the next three days,” Thom said. That took Warriors off-guard. 

“Normally there’s at least a few vacancies, what’s up with that?” Warriors asked, looking up at Thom. He shrugged, and Warriors moved slightly from where he was propped against Thom’s side as he did. 

“They’re renovating some rooms so those aren’t open, which I’m thinking explains it,” Thom replied, before turning to look at the rest of the group. 

“My apologies about that, I didn’t think that there wouldn’t be any rooms left. All I can really offer is here, but it’ll be cramped,” Thom continued, looking chiefly at Time and Twilight. Time started to open his mouth, but Four beat him to it. 

“Anything’s better than sleeping out in the woods!” Four nearly chirped. Wind nodded eagerly. 

“Yeah, sleeping in the woods isn’t fun! Half the time I end up getting sticks in my bedroll and that’s never fun!” Wind added. Warriors laughed when Wild turned to look at them.

“What’s wrong with camping?” Wild asked, sounding a bit upset. He sounded more like he was joking, but there was still that small bit of hurt. 

“I like camping, Wild,” Hyrule said, reaching over and patting Wild on the shoulder reassuringly. He was still wearing Warriors’ scarf. 

“I know, but it’s just us. Us against the world and the world is everyone that doesn’t like to camp,” Wild said determinedly, making a fist with one hand. Warriors raised an eyebrow as everyone else looked at Wild confusedly. 

“Is… Is he always like this?” Thom asked, more than a bit confused. And with that, everyone burst into laughter, even Wild after a few seconds. Thom just continued to be confused as the rest of the group laughed. As the laughter died down, Thom’s brow furrowed.

“Was that a yes, then?” Thom asked, turning back towards Time and Twilight and tilting his head a bit. 

“That is what I was going to say, before I was  _ interrupted _ ,” Time said, chuckling a bit as he spoke. Four gave him a look that wouldn’t even pass as a glare. He looked a bit like an angry chipmunk, Warriors thought. But only a bit. 

“I was afraid you’d say no! I’m not sleeping in the woods, thank you very much!” Four replied, crossing his arms over his head. Time laughed again, before turning back to Thom.

“Either way, if you don’t mind having us, we’d love to stay. Some of us more than others,” Time said, and the entire group’s gaze flicked over to Warriors, who gave the group a half-hearted glare before snuggling into Thom’s side more. 

“Of course I want to stay with my boyfriend,” Warriors said a tad defensively, looking up at Thom and smiling softly. Thom looked down and gave him another forehead kiss, which started up laughs in the group as Warriors’ face went red. Thom started laughing as well, and Warriors swatted at him playfully. Thom made no attempts to dodge Warriors’ playful swats, but his laughter did increase along with the rest of the group’s. 

As the laughter died down in the room, Thom put one hand on his knee and the other kept on messing with Warriors’ hair as it had been. Warriors couldn’t object to that. The rest of their group took a few seconds to catch their breath, before Thom spoke up.

“So. I had plans to make something simple for myself for dinner, so that’s what I’d picked up. But I’ll need to make enough food for ten people. Does meatloaf sound good to everyone?” Thom asked. There were nods from around the room, and a few vocal approvals. Warriors grinned from his spot nestled at Thom’s side. Meatloaf meant mashed potatoes and Thom always let him mash the potatoes. That was one of the few things he could make and not screw up, with stuffing being another. 

“Alright - Link, do you want to go to the market with me to pick up the ingredients I’ll need?” Thom asked, looking down at him. Warriors nodded, reluctantly getting up from his spot to go and put his boots back on. Because what kind of heathen left their boots on when they were in another person’s home where there were  _ carpets _ , Wild? 

* * *

Warriors held onto Thom’s hand absentmindedly as the duo walked throughout the market. With his free hand he waved at the other townspeople selling their wares, and they tended to wave back. Thom carried the bags with his other arm, relying on Warriors to pay for the ingredients they’d need. Right now they had just left the butcher’s, and were headed to o buy potatoes. This felt so domestic, and Warriors missed this about being home. Or, well. About as close to home as he could get. Thom was home, to him. 

“Alright… Let’s grab some potatoes,” Thom said, walking towards someone selling produce. Warriors trailed behind, his thoughts elsewhere. 

“Afternoon Thom, Link,” the townsman said as the duo walked up to his stand. Thom smiled, entangling his fingers with Warriors’ further. 

“Afternoon. Could we get about… Five pounds of your finest potatoes?” Thom asked. The townsman raised an eyebrow.

“What do you need with that many potatoes?” he asked, reaching over to grab a bag and start putting potatoes in it. Thom glanced down at Warriors, as if he was asking him to explain. So Warriors shrugged. 

“My travelling companions are staying at ours for the night, and I’m making mashed potatoes,” Warriors said simply, pulling out his wallet to grab the necessary amount of rupees to pay the man. The townsman laughed as he placed the last potato in the paper bag and told Warriors the cost.

“You’re making them, Link? Not Thom here?” he asked, chuckling. As Warriors picked up the bag of potatoes after putting his wallet back up, he gasped. 

“You insult me, good sir! I might not be a good cook, but even  _ I _ can make mashed potatoes!” Warriors said, moving his and Thom’s conjoined hands up to put them on his forehead like he was swooning. The townsman laughed as the two of them walked away, heading to grab a few other things before heading back to the bakery and apartment above it. Their hands were still intertwined between them, and that’s what Warriors focused on mostly as they walked. He didn’t know when he’d be seeing Thom again after this, so he savored every single second he had. His grip tightened slightly, and Thom gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.

“Link, it’ll be fine. Whatever you’re thinking about,” Thom said, looking down at him with a loving smile. Warriors looked back up, before perching on his toes to give Thom a peck on the lips. Both of their faces went a bit red, but as Warriors grinned at Thom, Warriors found that he didn’t really mind it. 

“As long as I can come home to you it will be,” Warriors replied softly, his face only a few inches from Thom’s. He smiled at Warriors, before giving him a kiss on the forehead. Warriors moved off of the balls of his feet and took a few more steps forward, waiting for Thom to follow behind. He did in quick fashion, and Warriors swung their hands between the two of them. As long as Warriors had Thom, he would be content. 

The rest of their shopping didn’t take that long, so they made it back to the bakery in no time. Warriors could hear an argument from where they stood in the entrance to the bakery, with Legend and Wild’s voices being the most prominent. Thom raised an eyebrow at Warriors.

“Do they always argue?” Thom asked. Warriors shook his head. 

“Not typically? I wouldn’t put it past them, but we left them alone for half an hour and… Wait no, Twilight might enable them…” Warriors trailed off, his eyebrows furrowing. Thom chuckled at him, leading Warriors up to their shared apartment as Warriors continued muttering to himself about possibilities as to why Wild and Legend would be arguing. As they started going up the stairs, the words started to get clearer, and about halfway up the staircase, they could hear a concrete sentence.

“Lynels  _ cannot _ be that easy to kill, Wild!” Legend shouted. Thom raised an eyebrow as Warriors snapped out of his own musings. 

“Do I want to know?” Thom asked. Warriors shook his head. The two made it the rest of the way up the stairs - there were only a few left, to be honest - as Wild spoke up.

“They are though! Might break a weapon or a bow on them, but they’re pretty easy to get rid of if you can get ahold of one of their bows and rain bomb arrows on them from above,” Wild replied as Thom managed to finagle the door open with his mostly filled hands. Thom wasn’t about to let go of Warriors’ hand for something as simple as opening up a door. As they stepped inside, Warriors could see that Legend was  _ this _ close to tearing his hair out, and Wild just looked confused. Twilight appeared to be on the edge of his seat, his gaze flicking between the two. Time sighed as the door closed behind them.

“Thank the goddesses,” Time said, sounding a lot more tired than he had been before they’d left. How long had they been arguing  _ for? _

“What are they arguing about?” Thom asked. His innocent question had both Legend and Wild turn towards him.

“This  _ idiot _ thinks that killing lynels is a simple task!” Legend exclaimed, pointing an accusatory hand at Wild. Wild gave Legend a confused look. 

“If you just take the right approach? It’s pretty simple?” Wild replied, and Twilight nodded.

“It is  _ not! _ ” Legend shouted angrily, and that’s when Thom lifted his and Warriors’ intertwined hands and attempted to put them up placatingly, but their hands and tangled fingers just drew all the attention. Either way, the argument stopped. 

“Aw...” Sky said softly. That’s when the rest of the group sprung into motion.

“Warriors thank the  _ goddesses _ , I can stop arguing about lynels with Wild, his opinions are trash,” Legend said, nearly collapsing into the chair he sat in. Wild’s eyebrows just rose further. Warriors almost felt sorry for him, but remembered how he’d nearly had to yell at him for tracking mud into the apartment earlier that day. No one that tracked mud into his home was going to be felt sorry for - mud took  _ forever _ to get out of the carpets and rugs placed everywhere! But either way, Wild looked extremely confused.

“My opinions aren’t trash? I’ve fought lynels like that before?” Wild said, sounding just as confused as he looked.

“Whoa, whoa. No need to be yelling,” Thom said, trying to placate the two.

“No, no, I need to see how this argument ends,” Twilight said excitedly from where he was sitting. Warriors raised an eyebrow. Twilight  _ was _ egging them on, oh my goddesses. The little shit. Warriors would say that he didn’t expect this from Twilight of all people, but that would be a lie. Warriors knew he could definitely be a little shit at times. 

“But Thom and I need to make dinner and Legend and Wild can’t be yelling in the living room while we do that, Twilight,” Warriors replied smoothly, shifting the bag of potatoes he held with his right arm. 

“Oooo, what’s for dinner?” Wind piped up, effectively stopping Legend and Wild’s argument in its tracks as everyone else focused on food. They hadn’t had a ton of time to eat lunch that day, so everyone was looking forward to a delicious dinner. Warriors grinned. 

“Thom’s making meatloaf and green beans, and I’m going to make mashed potatoes,” Warriors replied. Wind stuck his tongue out. 

“Eugh, green beans,” Wind said, sounding disgusted. Sky looked over, offended at the very prospect that green beans could disgust a person. 

“Hey! Nothing’s wrong with green beans!” Sky said. Four nodded from where he was sitting.

“Yeah, green beans are good. If they’re cooked right, at any rate,” Four added. Thom started laughing as the three of them continued to argue about green beans, of all things. 

“Let’s just go get started on dinner and see how long it takes them to notice that we left,” Thom whispered. Warriors gave a small nod, before the two headed towards the kitchen. The only people to notice their departure were Time and Hyrule, the latter of which gave a small wave. 

* * *

In no time at all - more accurately about two hours, and the sun had gone down within the first half hour - the meatloaf, green beans, and potatoes had all been made, and Thom had even dug out Warriors’ favorite cake from where he’d kept it. Because - and what a coincidence it was - Thom had made the cake the day before because he was missing Warriors, and by the goddesses Warriors was so  _ soft _ . Either way, the food was done with a bit of help from Time and Hyrule, the latter only being entrusted with chopping up vegetables for the meatloaf itself. The rest of them had been dragged into participating in the green bean argument, not snapping out of it until the smell of meatloaf started to waft around the apartment. 

Somehow, Warriors had wrangled Thom into letting them all eat in the living room, and as long as everyone promised to not get sauce everywhere they were good to go. So the ten of them sat in the living room and chatted about nothing in particular as they ate dinner and the cake that Thom had made the day prior. It was calm, and it was nice. And as dinner came to a close and everyone started to figure out where they’d be sleeping in their living room, Warriors and Thom headed back into their shared bedroom. Warriors still hadn’t actively set his stuff down, and there was someone in the bedroom that definitely wanted to see him, judging by the meows he could hear behind the door as they approached. When Thom opened the door just a crack, there was a louder  _ mrrow  _ and Warriors had an armful of cat.

“Hey there Zelda. You miss me?” Warriors said softly, petting his cat as she purred contentedly from her spot nestled in his arms. Careful not to jostle her too much, Warriors managed to pass his pack over to Thom. 

“I don’t get why she likes you so much, pumpkin,” Thom said, putting Warriors’ pack next to his side of the bed. Warriors laughed.

“It’s probably because I didn’t try to name her  _ sweetroll _ ,” he replied teasingly, and Thom gasped.

“I thought it’d be a good name, thank you very much!” Thom said, attempting to sound offended for a few seconds before bursting out into laughter. Warriors joined him quickly after, still managing to pet Zelda as he did. She kept on purring, until Warriors moved to go sit down and she hopped out of his arms and trotted out of the room. With a sad expression, Warriors sat down anyways. He looked longingly at Zelda as she walked down the hallway. Thom gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

“Hm… She avoided them last time. Is she actually going to go and not hide in nooks and crannies the entire time?” Warriors mused to himself. Thom shrugged.

“Maybe? You know she tends to avoid new people whenever they come over,” Thom replied. The two listened for a moment, before Warriors heard a very surprised series of gasps. One of them was louder than the others, and Warriors tilted his head slightly. One of his ears twitched as Zelda meowed again, but that was quickly followed by the sound of someone crying. Immediately, Warriors jumped off the bed and ran out into the living room to see Zelda sitting on Twilight’s lap. And Twilight? He was the source of the crying, just looking down at Zelda like she had just told him that she’d created the galaxy, in her own cat way.

“Are… Are you alright, Twilight?” Time asked, looking at him with concern. 

“Do I need to grab her and put her back in mine and Thom’s room?” Warriors asked, and Twilight shook his head mutely. 

“Are you allergic to cats?” Hyrule asked, sounding worried. Twilight just shook his head again. He looked up at the whole group and there was an extremely shaky smile on his face.

“I’ve been chosen,” he said quietly, moving a hand to pet Zelda slowly. Warriors heard a loud purring noise, and saw that Zelda’s eyes were closed contentedly. Huh. 

“She likes you, Twilight,” Warriors said, surprised. Twilight’s face brightened considerably at that tidbit of information.

“ _ Really? _ ” he asked, sounding a lot more like a child than he had the right to. But Zelda was a wonderful cat, and Warriors would excuse it this time. 

“Yeah,” Warriors replied as Thom finally walked into the living room and plonked his chin on Warriors’ head. 

“I had a feeling Zelda would like him,” Thom said quietly as he wrapped his arms around Warriors’ shoulders. That was comforting. He liked that. Warriors nodded, feeling Thom’s chin move as his head did. 

“You can pet her as long as you want to, Twilight,” Warriors said, and if someone looked at him, they could see the definitive sparkles in Twilight’s eyes. 

“Really?” There was so much hope in Twilight’s voice. Goddesses, he really loved animals, didn’t he? Warriors just nodded, and Twilight moved ever so slightly, before looking back down at Zelda and cautiously giving her some scritches between her ears. Her purring only got louder, and her eyes closed in contentment. There was a quiet “aw” that Warriors heard from somewhere, and Thom’s arms moved from Warriors’ shoulders to his waist. This was comfortable. And it was also getting late. Warriors couldn’t glance up at Thom with Thom’s chin propped on his head, so instead he reached over and tapped Thom’s hand.

“It’s getting late, hon,” Warriors said quietly, and he felt Thom nod. A bit upset to break the silence, Warriors cleared his throat. 

“We’re heading to bed - the rest of you can situate yourselves however you’d like, just don’t sleep in the kitchen or on top of one of the bookcases or anything like that and we should all be good,” Warriors said, directing his second instruction at Wind and Wild more than anyone else. Knowing either of them, they would. Everyone gave some indication of hearing them, except Sky. He was already asleep in their recliner. 

“Goodnight y’all,” Thom said, moving one hand from Warriors’ waist to give the rest of the Links a small wave. The duo headed back to their shared room, and went to bed fairly quickly. Warriors embraced sleep like an old friend. He’d missed it. 

* * *

The next morning, Warriors walked out of their room as Thom started to wake up. He’d given Thom a kiss on the forehead before he left, going to check on the rest of the group and how they fared. And it was… Not well. 

“What happened to all of you?” Warriors asked, raising an eyebrow as he walked into the living room. The only person who looked like they’d gotten a semblance of rest was Sky, and even he looked cranky. Zelda was still asleep next to Twilight, purring softly. But she was the only person in the room that was asleep. 

“What  _ didn’t _ happen to you? You were in there with that  _ noise! _ ” Wind said, pointing towards the short hallway leading to the bedroom. Warriors’ eyebrow rose higher, before he started laughing. 

“ _ Oh! _ ” he exclaimed, barely getting it out between his wheezing. This was hilarious.

“That was Thom.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Time asked, sounding perplexed. Warriors took a deep breath, recovering from his wheezing fit. 

“Thom snores like a  _ bear _ ,” Warriors elaborated, and Legend narrowed his eyes.

“That  _ bear _ snoring kept me from sleeping all night. I am exhausted,” Legend said. He did sound exhausted. That must not be fun. As Legend spoke, the door to Warriors and Thom’s shared bedroom opened, and Thom stepped out, yawning. 

“Ah, good morning every- whoa, what happened to all of you?” Thom asked. Hyrule grabbed onto Legend’s shoulders to prevent him from going and punching Thom in the face, for which Warriors was very grateful. 

“I mean no offense when I say this, but I don’t think any of us would like to stay in your home again,” Time said, as everyone else gave Thom tired looks. Thom paused, before turning to Warriors.

“Pumpkin, you said I didn’t snore!”

**Author's Note:**

> oh, my [tumblr](http://nerdiests.tumblr.com) exists, feel free to check it out!


End file.
